January 29, 2007

Going for more thrills and action, Screen Gems has successfully secured the rights to a big screen project titled "The Crossing", which was originally developed under New Line Cinema Banner.

A drug-trafficking thriller, the flick concerns a woman who is forced to work for drug traffickers after his husband gets kidnapped during their vacation in Mexico. Writing duo Byron Willinger and Phillip De Blasi have been in charge to pen the script.

The lead actress is at last found for Rob Zombie's "Halloween." The director has reportedly picked up actress/singer Scout Taylor-Compton to play Laurie Strode, the main character in the franchise originally played by Jamie Lee Curtis.

The beauty thus becomes the latest addition in the movie's cast lineup which has already included a long list of names like Daeg Faerch, Tyler Mane, William Forsythe, Danielle Harris, Daryl Sabara, and Brad Dourif to name few. Shooting is currently underway in Los Angeles with an eye for an August 31 release.

There it is, following an endless speculation on their romance being on rocks, talk is heating up that Bar Refaeli has dumped actor boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio.

Rumor has it that the Israeli model brought an end to their six-month relationship because she was unable to cope with the hunk's hectic work schedule and constant partying.

Though already had "Avatar: The Last Airbender" in his hand, director M. Night Shyamalan appears to have another plan in mind as he is reported to try selling a project he wrote titled tentatively "The Green Effect" to several film studios.

Presenting a story about a large-scale, cataclysmic environmental crisis that turns into a struggle by mankind to overcome nature, the film has not yet been picked up by any companies, presumably because they are being cautious after witnessing the filmmaker's failure in "Lady in the Water."

The investigators in charge in the devastating car crash involving R&B singer Brandy have ruled out mechanical factors as the cause of the accident.

Confirmed the ruling Thursday January 25th, police said it remains to be seen whether Brandy will be found to be primarily at fault or criminally negligent in the December 30, 2006 crash.

Marking the closing of this year's Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, January 28, the event's juries eagerly revealed a list of movies deserved for their Jury and Audience Awards at the Festival's Award Ceremony held in Park City, Utah.

Divided for dramatic and documentary feature, the top honor of Grand Jury Prize went to Christopher Zalla's "Padre Nuestro" and "Manda Bala" ("Send a Bullet") with "Sweet Mud" and "Enemies of Happiness" taking the World Cinema Jury Prize. Meanwhile, Special Jury Prizes were given to U.S.' "The Pool" plus "No End in Sight", Israel's "Hot House", and France's "The Legacy."

Bad news for Kate Moss as she reportedly is facing an axe as the face of make-up giants Rimmel's fashion campaign because she's been considered too old.

"Age catches up with everyone, even Kate. But she hasn't been told anything by Rimmel. At 33 she's getting on in terms of modeling. And she recently moaned about her face, saying she needed Botox," a source was quoted as saying.

Two years after her latest music effort "Rebirth", Jennifer Lopez comes back on the trail, planning her first Spanish album for an April release.

The forthcoming LP, titled "Como Ama Una Mujer" (How A Woman Loves), is planned for April 3rd release date to be exact. The set, claimed to be an all-Spanish album, is co-written and co-produced by Lopez's husband Marc Anthony in conjunction with Estefano and Julio Reyes.

Will Smith must be very honored with the award he has just got. The rapper-turned-actor was honored Saturday Jan 27th with the Modern Master Award, an honor that says he is a master of his craft, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Fellow actor Tom Cruise presented the festival's Modern Master Award to Smith. Also attending the ceremony was Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

Finally ran its Goya Awards on Sunday, January 28, 2007, Academia of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences (AACCE) delightfully gave high marks on both "Volver" and "Pan's Labyrinth", bestowing the former Best Picture title (Mejor pelicula) while handing out seven prizes to the latter.

Telling about the tragicomic tale of a mother's survival, "Volver" altogether gained five nods; two of which, apart from the aforementioned honor, were key awards of Best Director (Mejor direccion) for Pedro Almodovar and Best Leading Actress (Mejor interpretacion femenina protagonista) for Penelope Cruz.

Paula Abdul was on Saturday Jan 27th named Woman of the Year by the Nevada Ballet Theatre.

Accepted the honor in Las Vegas, Paula thanked "Idol" pals Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest, saying "Every time Randy Jackson opens up his mouth, I look like a Nobel Prize winner. Every time Simon Cowell opens his mouth, Borat sounds like a Nobel Prize winner..... Ryan, I really do love him; almost as much as he loves himself ?..These three brothers are the best thing a girl can hope for, just ask my therapists."

Jennifer Aniston has had enough from her two failed-relationships with Brad Pitt and Vince Vaughn that she no longer wants to wait for Mr. Right. The actress thinks she's run out of time and considering the time has come for her to have baby or babies.

Instead of wasting her time looking for the perfect guy, Jenn has spent the past several weeks consulting adoption experts and is on the lookout for a newborn American baby girl. Decided not to follow the current celebrity trend of adopting a child from abroad, the beauty would like to adopt orphans right in Los Angeles.

More prizes have been given to lauded titles and names in film and TV industry as the Screen Actors Guild held out the ceremony for its 13th annual SAG Awards yesterday, January 28, 2007 at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center.

Just like the Producers Guild of America, the labor union finally bestowed its equivalent of a best-picture award, the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture honor, to indie road movie "Little Miss Sunshine" while taking the same favor as most critics did in deeming Helen Mirren of "The Queen" and Forest Whitaker of "The Last King of Scotland" the winners in lead acting categories.

No, he isn't the only one. David Beckham is just one besides the likes of Scarlett Johansson and Beyonce Knowles to land the advertising campaign of Disney and Walt Disney's "World's Year of a Million Dreams."

Beckham is featured as Prince Philip in "Sleeping Beauty", elsewhere Johansson and Beyonce have their own different parts. As of Scarlett, the actress is photographed as Cinderella, wearing a designer ball gown and a diamond tiara, featured in the ad running slipperless down a staircase, while the castle she has just left can be seen in the background.

Looks like most moviegoers tend to have fun spending their weekend in theaters instead go for some gun-banging actions judging from their inclination toward "Epic Movie."

Exceeding industry expectations, the comedy spoof satisfyingly emerges as the top holder of weekend box office ended January 28, 2007, selling $18.6 million worth of tickets to soar above the solid $14.6 million its fellow newcomer "Smokin' Aces" has collected. Nevertheless, the gangland saga sure has made its way to push "Night at the Museum" one step down as the Fox release scores far below at $9.55 million.

When it comes to appearing sexy, Mariah Carey is the expert. Nonetheless, this time around "Mimi" has changed the way she dresses as she, apparently, already comes to such realization not to use her sexual appeal to offend her self-esteem or her fans.

The pop diva will be gracing the March cover of Playboy magazine and she's not naked! Can you believe that? She does bare a lot of skin though. Mariah, reportedly, will be donning a skin-colored swimsuit or something that very much resembles one.

It surely is good news. B.B. King has been released from the hospital. The blues legend was discharged from a Galveston hospital Saturday January 27th, two days after he was admitted with flu-like symptoms.

King left the University of Texas Medical Branch's Acute Care for Elders unit in Galveston at about 1 p.m. CST, hospital spokesman John Coloen said.

These days will surely hard for Angelina Jolie to be passed for she has just lost her beloved one, her mother. The actress announced Sunday Jan 28th, her mother Marcheline Bertrand, died of cancer on Saturday January 27th, 2007.

Bertrand, an actress who had small roles in movies including the 1983's "The Man Who Loved Women," battled cancer for over seven-and-a-half years. She died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.